[FONT=“Century Gothic”][SIZE=“5”][COLOR=“Blue”]Oy.
Okay, I have a pattern that calls for 13.5 sts (in stockinette) over four inches. I couldn’t find exact yarn in the pattern, but thought I found one pretty close.
I did a practice swatch and it’s about 16sts over four inches.
I’ve purchased the yarn, and I really want to use it.
HOW MANY STITCHES do I need to add in order to keep my project the proper width (I really want it to fit).[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
My own question answered?
Please check my logic.
Let’s say I want the width of the project to equal 10 inches.
If I’m knitting at 16st per 4 inches, then that’s 4st per inch.
That’s 4st times 10 inches which comes to 40st?
Another way to look at it… the original pattern called for 31st with a gauge of 13.5.
Hmmm… I think I might have it?!
What type of pattern is it? If it’s something like a sweater or hat that needs to fit then I’d prolly try other needle sizes and see if one of those would give you the gauge…
It’s a sweater.
So, if I’m on US 9, then maybe I should try US 10?
Yep, that’s what I would try next and see what you get on those… :happydance:
It turns out to be about the same.
Should I jump to an 11?
I’m starting to think I really botched it by buying all of this yarn for this sweater. Maybe I should switch to an afghan? Or should I add some stitches to the pattern to compensate for the lost stitches in the gauge?
Try 10.5 and maybe 11. What yarn are you using? Another way to do it is make a larger size than you would normally. You’ll have to multiply your 4sts/inch by the number of inches around you want and look to see which size comes close to that number of stitches both front and back.
It’s Cascade Pastaza yarn.
It’s chunky weight and knits 4st per inch on a 9.
The pattern calls for 3 3/4 st per inch on a 9, but I’m getting higher than that and it just seems the size of the piece will be too small.
It’s a cabled sweater, but I’m thinking if I add some stitches into the non-cabled areas, I should be OK.
I think that’s ultimately what I’m going to have to do.
I would also consider moving up a size if you don’t want to go to larger needle. It’s a real pain to put all that work into something and then not have it fit. Believe me I know.
On chunky yarn, I’d definitely go up a needle size, especially with cables. On the smaller needle it may pull in and they would be too tight. 10.5 may work out great, or you may have to go to 11s. Do a sample with both and see how each of them looks.
You’re getting good answers, but I’d like to point out that when buying yarn for a sweater (or anything) that you should try to stick to the gauge recommended for the pattern if you aren’t buying the yarn suggested. You could find another pattern to use that gauge yarn with instead of altering the pattern, too. 
This site is a good one to have bookmarked. 
True, Jan. But sometimes you just gotta use a particular yarn you have or like, with a certain pattern, so sometimes you have to pound that square peg into the round hole. Metaphorically speaking…
Jan, the yarn in the pattern is actually discontinued. I’ll count this as my first big lesson about gauge.
Suz, I’ve spent all day trying to pound that square peg, but it’s just giving me gray hairs. I’m officially raising the white flag on this pattern.
If you have any suggestions for a pattern that fits this yarn, I’d love it (I have seven skeins right now): http://www.yarndex.com/yarn.cfm?yarn_id=127
I was going to make a men’s cable sweater with it, and I’ll spend some time searching tonight. If I don’t find anything I think I’ll move to an afghan.
Thanks for all of your help so far, and thanks in advance for any patterns you can find for a chunky yarn with a 16st/4" gauge on a US9.
I might suggest that you find a pattern that uses larger needles. 9s are just toooo small for chunky, worsted uses 8-9 usually. You need 10.5s or 11s.
Do you have any patterns in mind?
A pattern for a man’s sweater perhaps?